Category: Holiday

ENTER THESE NUMBERS INTO YOUR PHONE RIGHT NOW TO ENSURE WE ALL MAKE IT SAFELY INTO THE NEW YEAR!

New Year’s Eve safe road resources from MADD:

Albuquerque Street Guardians505-881-7233
Have too many drinks at the bar and need a ride home, but don’t want to leave your car? ABQ Street Guardians will pick you up! Give them a call and they’ll show up on a collapsible scooter! When you and your car are nice and safe at home, they hop on their scooters and ride off into the night.
Hours of Operation Tuesday-Saturday: 7 pm-3 am

Party Trolley505-433-7386 (call/text)
Need a safe way of getting you and a group of your friends to the party? Look no further! The Party Trolley is a limo bus that provides safe and affordable transportation to and from your party destination.
Hours of Operation Tuesday: 9 pm-2 am (free to and from Library downtown for college night!) Thursday-Saturday: 8 pm-2:3 am

Tavern Taxi505-999-1400 offers free cab service from the bars to your home in Bernalillo County.
Hours of Operation Friday and Saturday nights: 10 pm-2 am (Bartender must place call)

Tipsy Tow1-800-222-4357 (ask for Tipsy Tow) Celebrate the holidays with a few too many drinks, but you want to get your car home? Tipsy Tow offers you a safe ride and free towing up to 7 miles.
Albuquerque Taxi Cab Services
Phone: 505-883-4888 Yellow-Checker Cab Company Inc.
Phone: 505-247-8888 Sober Navigators/Designated Driver/ 505-934-8033

A person whose heart
Is unquestionably true
To the country and her colors
The red white and blue

Whether a draftee or a volunteer
There was no hesitation,
determining fear
Or trepidation
In responding to the call of our nation

Whether at home or overseas
Whether in war or in intermittent times of peace
The veteran served with commitment and resolve
Which both mind and body would involve
The risk to both was always great
Requiring faith, suffering fate
The losses — lives and limbs and mental health —
A gift to us of their whole self.

To those brave men and women on this Veterans day
With grateful hearts to you we say
We miss you, we love you, and we thank you
Every single day.

And for those who still serve
On active duty and reserve
We pray
For your safety and health and families who wait

The 20 billion dollar per year garment industry of Bangladesh cost over 300 lives and counting earlier last week when at first some of the 3,000 workers, who felt and saw their dilapidated, eight story clothing manufacturing building on the verge of collapse, attempted to flee the structure, only to be forced back in to their 13 cent per hour minimum wage post at gunpoint by building management and the bulk of the factory building did then come down killing hundreds and trapping what is reported to be several hundred more.

Since the catastrophe infants have been born in the rubble where their late term pregnant mothers had been pinned after the collapse, rescue efforts continue to uncover more of the living, and recovery of those lost will likely go on for weeks. Today the building owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested on the border of Bangladesh as he was attempting to escape to India.

Today in the United States it is Workers Memorial Day, th day “the unions of the AFL-CIO…remember those who have suffered and died on the job” and aim to renew efforts for safe workplaces.

Perhaps on this day, American consumers can make the commitment to honor the labor that drives our nation by taking a stand and making the resolve to both identify and hold accountable the businesses on our soil which may have a hand in the unfair and unsafe practices abroad that lead to devastating consequences such as those in this current tragedy.

When they are revealed will you hold the U.S. companies whose merchandise was being manufactured in this Bangladesh plant accountable for supporting these unfair and dangerous practices?

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together. -President Barack Obama in his 2nd Inaugural Address earlier today on this the National Holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As ALWAYS, the sexiest driver on the road is the DESIGNATED DRIVER! Please, please, PLEASE play a part in being a person of the year, by putting in just a little bit of prep work to help SAVE A LIFE – maybe even your own!

Preemptively pick a sexy beast, or be a sexy beast and enter some life saving digits into a cell phone near YOU! If you’re a bartender or server, please be a life saver and don’t let a drunk driver hit the road under your watch!

Just in time for the holidays, OHI is once again offering some FREE advertising and social network promotions to state shops, restaurants, retailers and manufacturers!

If you are or have a locally owned and operated business, email: info@oneheadlightink.com for details on how to get featured in our upcoming #BUYNM listings!

Our “2012 Shop Local” page will be regularly updated to our subscribers and social network of friends and fans through New Year’s Day!

PLEASE be sure to include any special offers you may be able to extend to our readers, tie-ins you have with area charities, web links, pictures and any special New Mexico story you might have to share about your small business!!!

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand along with hot chocolate, apple cider and cookies; a large holiday card to sign; a Toys for Tots collection; and the Capitol Christmas Tree itself.

The tree will roll into town on a 105-foot truck. Event attendees are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots collection by the Marine Corps. Capitol Christmas Tree merchandise will be available for donations at the event.

The 73-foot spruce tree from White River National Forest in Colorado will be ultimately stand at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. over the upcoming holiday season. Follow “The People’s Tree” tour here.

Labor Day usually conjures images of the end of summer – one last barbecue, a final trip to the Butte or even just a day off of work to spend time with the people we love.

Yet our picnics, road trips and tailgating parties wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of the men and women who do the work that keeps our communities and our country going – the engineers who design our roads, the police officers, firefighters and prison guards who keep us safe and the small-business owners who sell us our hot dog buns and sunscreen.

Labor Day is a reminder that all of us, whether we are employed or looking for work, are the heartbeat of this country. And over the next few months, we will have a choice between protecting America’s greatest strength – each other – or allowing our voices to be silenced by those with more money, power and influence.

America’s prosperity came about because the people who were the pulse of America were recognized, respected and rewarded. Everyone had a fair shot at getting ahead – because everyone played by the same rules. Good jobs and decent wages led to real economic growth, thriving businesses and strong communities, which led in turn to a better future for our children.

Yet many of our leaders have pushed a starkly different vision for our country’s future.

Wall Street-driven elected officials have fought to keep the rules that allow the most privileged Americans to get ahead by gaming the system, regardless of the consequences for the rest of Americans. It’s a strategy that creates millions in corporate profit while leaving behind foreclosed homes and longer unemployment lines.

Not only does our tax code allow wealthy CEOs to claim a tax break for exporting jobs overseas, it allows them to look forward to paying zero U.S. taxes on the jobs and income moved offshore. The richest 2 percent of Americans are allowed to claim larger and larger tax cuts. Meanwhile, less-fortunate Americans are forced to pick up the tab as Congress votes to end Medicare as we know it and cut benefits for Social Security.

In New Mexico we have seen the lowest job growth in the country under Gov. Susana Martinez, yet there are thousands of state jobs funded but not filled and capital money is still piling up that could be used to fix our critical infrastructure needs and create well-paid jobs.

There is no clearer example of this philosophy than Republican vice presidential pick Paul Ryan. According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, his budget would deliver a hefty tax cut to the wealthiest Americans while stripping $347 million from health care, education and road repairs in New Mexico alone. Under his plan, the real job creators – our workers and our small-business owners – are out of luck.

The Ryan plan is just one example of why we need to stop rewarding politicians who rig the game for their wealthy donors. The flood of money into our election system has made many politicians more interested in helping those who bankroll their campaigns instead of the rest of us.

Yet is the work of a CEO more valuable than that of a nurse hard at work saving lives? Does an investment banker contribute more to our economy than the engineer who builds safe bridges and roads? I believe in the vision of an America that honors and respects all work and the people who do it.

That is why it is so important for all of us to make our voices heard – to insist that all of us play an important role in our communities and our country. We must elect leaders who really will stand on the side of the people they represent and not those with the deepest pockets.

Over the next few months, we will be hammered on every side by slick TV ads and mailers asking and cajoling us with promises of what they will or won’t do for us. Our job is to take a step back and look at the issues. How do our candidates stand on the things that really matter?

Because in the end, we need leaders who will build shared prosperity and create an economy that works for everyone. Most important, we need leaders who give America’s workers what we need to continue being America’s backbone.

Labor Day was originated by the American Federation of Labor of the late 1800s and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Labor unions celebrated the first labor days in the United States. The first Labor Day parade was Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. As the movement grew to several states across the country President Grover Cleveland entered the holiday into law in 1894.

The workers’ unions chose the first Monday in September because it was halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving.

All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories observe Labor Day as a statutory holiday.

For the most part we don’t observe Valentine’s Day around here, though we are big proponents of celebrating love (in all its forms) year ’round!

As you all know, one of my great loves is the fine state of New Mexico, but as in most relationships we don’t always see eye to eye…whether downtrodden by local “professionals” throwing shade my way or the front office imposing fundamentally disparate legislation on the priorities and values many of us hold so dear, New Mexico and I don’t always get along.

This (below) is not part of the best Texas based ad campaign that 2M New Mexico dollars can buy (or is it). It is however how many of us may feel when certain individuals and worse, governing bodies seem to let us all down.

Old v. New Mexico

In 2010 one of our state’s most perpetually mishandled problems was again brought to our collective consciousness (in a somewhat more connective way than the all-too-regular reports of locals perpetrating their 4th, 5th, 12th or even 20th recorded drunk driving infraction – yielding little to no consequence to them), when NM’s Own, Jackie James who is beloved by her friends, family & (as it so happens) her “6” fans, became another victim of the plague that is drunk driving in New Mexico.

Thankfully Jackie of 100.3 The Peak, survived to tell her story – though just last week, due to yet another lapse in “the system”, was at first denied the opportunity to address the courts and her offender in this case.

This week at a so called, “re-sentencing” hearing Jackie and her husband/co-host, Tony Manero were permitted to present statements to the court. It is unclear if the the conditional discharge granted to the drunk driver in the original hearing will have to be upheld (more from KOB-TV here).

In the meantime whether from your neighbor, mother, daughter, brother, or friend with an inappropriate crush on you, I wish you all the kind of heartening love, support & appreciation that this husband/co-host and best friend conveyed to the sometimes very unjust system regarding his very just feelings about the near fatal tragedy that rocked this public NM couple.

Here is Tony’s statement to the court of the Honorable Denise Barela Shepherd, Second Disctrict Court, State of New Mexico:

“Thank you your honor-

My name is Anthony. I am the husband of the victim. Her car was hit directly by a drunk driver on the morning of…

We do a morning radio show together, and I can’t tell you the stories we’ve discussed regarding drunk drivers in our state. We’ve all heard them…Gordon House…Dana Pabst…Entire families wiped out because of some careless drunk that decided to take someone else’s life. Before [that day], I can’t tell you how many times I hoped that would never happen to us. We don’t go out at night very often. We hardly ever drink alcohol. Yet, on that morning, it did happen. In an instant, our lives changed. All because of the actions of someone [who] decided he could do it. He could get from point A to point B and not get caught. Someone [who] decided that even though he was too drunk to drive…he would risk it, because he had to get somewhere. Someone [who] decided to break the law and show absolutely no regard for human life…by getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle drunk out of his mind.

As she was driving to work, my wife’s car was hit on the passenger side by someone running a red light at Paseo [Del Norte] and San Pedro. Someone traveling at such a high rate of speed that he himself was ejected thru the windshield. Someone [who] was so intoxicated that he had no idea how he ended up on the pavement. Someone that would change our lives in an instant.

My wife has never hurt a soul. She is not only the most caring wife, but also the best mother to our three children. She has helped raise over 2 million dollars for UNM Children’s Hospital, and entertains thousands every weekday on our show. If not for the side impact airbags in her vehicle, she could have been killed. Her head could have been dragged along the pavement until her car came to a stop. Not only would my families’ lives had been changed, but the community would have been affected as well. Instead she had to suffer through the pain of broken ribs, a broken nose, bruised sternum, a concussion, and a massive gash across her nose and eyelid. Not to mention the psychological damage from all of this. 18 months later, and she still flinches when we drive together. Occasionally she’ll tell me small things that she remembers from that day. Yet she still has very little recollection of the actual impact.

I on the other hand, have a very clear memory of that day. From my drive from work to UNMH…not knowing how bad it might be. To walking into the triage to see my wife, with a gaping head wound lying on a bloody gurney, and telling her everything would be okay. The feeling of complete and utter helplessness as my wife squeezed my hand as hard as she could while they stitched her wound shut. The tears she shed in the hospital, as I called her mom and dad to let them know what happened. Picking up my children from school…and having to explain to each one of them that some horrible person had hit her car while he was driving drunk. Seeing the story on the news that night that an Albuquerque DJ had been hit by a drunk driver…That day is crystal clear. The anger that I had when I finally had a chance to spend some time alone with my thoughts is still very…crystal…clear.

I have never been so shocked as when it came time to get my wife’s belongings from her car. Sitting in a junkyard, it was unrecognizable.The passenger’s side was hit so hard that it caved in both of the wheel wells. Airbags on both windows had deployed, along with the steering wheel. One of the big mysteries when talking with my wife, was how she had gotten out of the vehicle. She has absolutely no recollection of how she got out. When she was hit, her car rolled over on its side. Her side. She couldn’t exit the passengers door, because it was caved in, and the glass had shattered out. It wasn’t until I saw the blood. All of the blood. From the steering wheel airbag, to the ceiling above where she sat. I followed the path…from between the front seats, over the middle row of seats…blood. Enough to form a solid trail. Then over the third seat, and out the rear window…which had also been shattered. With a gaping wound over her eye, a broken nose, broken ribs and other injuries, she had to crawl out over three rows of seats.

Her recovery from this accident continues to this day. But I am fortunate. I still have my wife and best friend. I still get to laugh at her jokes, and enjoy my time with her. If there is one thing that has come out of this, it is how precious life is. How delicate it can be…and how it can change, thru the careless actions of others, in an instant.

Mr. ______a few words for you…I hope from the bottom of my heart that you don’t take our state’s lax drunk driving laws lightly. On that morning, you could have killed someone. And not just anyone, but my wife, a loving mother and daughter. Someone completely innocent of your ignorant actions that morning. Someone who never deserved to be on the end of your speeding weapon. Some people call this a mistake, or an accident. I call it a choice. You choose to drink…and get behind the wheel of a vehicle. I find people that commit this crime to be a disgrace. How someone can feel they can do this to others is beyond me. Did you think you’d get to where you were going without hurting anyone? Did you feel that you were able to do this before…so why would this time be any different? Every action has a reaction. Your actions that morning nearly killed my wife…and this is my reaction. You’ve been handed a second chance by the state of new mexico. I can only hope that your future choices aren’t as deplorable as the one you made that morning.”

Join these stars and thousands around the country in Scholastic’s “You Are What You Read” program. Do your part to help reach the 1 million book goal.

Create a “Bookprint” and Scholastic Books will donate a new book on your behalf to the Reach Out and Read organization.

Reach Out and Read provides new books to 3.9 million children every year. The evidence based non-profit organization partners with pediatric care doctors to deliver reading material and information to kids and their parents to promote early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age.

It’s so easy! Just go to Scholastic’s You Are What You Read page here and create your Bookprint – a list of five books that have made a lasting impact on your life.

Because I need a happy picture for today, here third person tweeted via @jfleck, is Albuquerque’s own Tumbleweed Snowman, resurrected after reports of his stormy wind caused demise were met with an outcry of mourning last week…